Episode 555 was the meat and potatoes show in so far as putting
things in place for Mad City Mayhem on July 30.
Najasism and Nick Halen squared off in match four of their best of seven series and it was another barnburner.
Cameron Keast cut the promo of his life on Austin Towers. The talking on this show was exceptionally strong overall.
And for better or worse, the creature from the black lagoon returned...
Noah Howell was joined in the announce booth by Keast and he was on fire as the color commentator, full on heel at times and serious analyst at others, depending on what the situation dictated. James Dewberry was referee for all five match and was as sharp as tacks. Did someone else write this paragraph?
(1) Ben Buchanan & Skrilla the Great defeated Brandon Whatley & Roma Miller. Joined in progress due to technical difficulties. Skrilla inadvertently hit Buchanan when Roma Miller ducked. Miller rolled Skrilla and almost pinned him. Skrilla got the pin on Miller after using Roma's superkick against him.
Buchanan made mince meat out of Skrilla after the match and left still in possession of Victor Cortez's Youtube belt. The lariat spot looked tremendous.
It supposed to be a six man with the ambition of advancing three stories in one match. Cortez and Whatley's nemesis, Marcus Eriks weren't there so they had to settle for just Roma and Skrilla...and furthering Buchanan's unhinged heel turn. Buchanan being at ProSouth for this run is a nice prestige thing for the company and provides Buchanan with an opportunity to tinker with his heel persona.
(2) Chris Mason (with James Hardy) defeated Huckaby by DQ in 5:04. Story was Huckaby out for revenge on Mason for attacking his partner Hold My Beer Hanson during a ProSouth Plus interview segment. Huckaby was appropriately kicking Mason's ass until Hardy provided his "Ban Hammer" with some separation. Mason took it to Huck. Hardy got the apron and tossed his suit jacket into the ring. Low and behold, Mason pulled a chain out of one of the pockets. Mason swung wildly at Huck with the chain and missed. Huck pinned Mason with a pumphandle brainbuster. Referee Dewberry saw the chain in Huck's hand and DQed him.
I like this as an undercard feud. Working with Huck can only be a good thing for someone as green as Mason and Huck made sure not overextend his capabilities.
(3) Austin Towers defeated Brother Azriel via submission in 14:22. After getting into a bared chesticle chopfest with Towers, Azriel cheapshotted the knee and went to work on the vulnerable body part. Azriel got Towers up for a Samoan drop for a near fall. Towers got a near fall with the STO and was looking for the Kobeya. Azriel sidestepped and hit a spinning side slam. Towers got a foot on the ropes. Towers; knee gave out on another Kobeya attempt, but the giant caught Azriel with a codebreaker into a gogoplata and Azriel passed out.
Good stuff. Another good outing for Azriel in a match that was given a surprising amount of time. The story worked -- Azriel incapacitating Towers' knee to take away the Kobeya kick, forcing Towers to find another way to win. Towers selling was key in making it believably competitive.
The Tragic Prince answers Towers' challenge. Keast addressed Towers while sitting on the ramp with the gold rush briefcase. Keast said Towers questioned if he had earned the gold rush contract. He didn't have to prove a damn thing to anybody. He had a phenomenal 2020 and was having great 2021 and nobody was going to stop that including Towers. Towers questioned if he was championship material. Keast said he had consistently defied the odds in every situation and gotten his hand raised, He didn't leave town for three years because his group kicked him out like Towers did. Keast accepted Towers challenge to put the briefcase on the line at Mad City Mayhem. He could cash in the briefcase in before the 30th, but he wasn't going to do that because now he wanted something more than a ProSouth title. He wanted to be the one to stand over Towers. He was the one who dragged Tyler Cullprett out of the cage and gave him the championship. He was the reason Towers was no longer champion and he was going to be the reason, Towers wasn't champion again.
An amazing promo by Keast, delivered with a new level of confidence and conviction. I loved the presentation- Keast sitting down as he lecturing the giant looming over him in the ring.
Eric Silva and Reynolds: Face-to-Face. Reynolds said he didn't recognize this Silva, weak like all the people in this building. He came to ProSouth to help a failing Silva reclaim his place as the Ghost. Silva continued to fail so he put Silva down like the old dog he had become, while he still had respect on his name. With Silva gone, he attained greatness. Silva was back. At Mad City Mayhem, Silva was going down for good.
Silva referred to Reynolds as "John". John still did not understand that Silva was manifestation of their shared history. The difference between them had always been discipline. John went after the latest shiny object and that could not last. Silva was not going to hurt John bad, he was going to hurt him permanently. One of two things would happen on July 30 -- he would get John back or Reynolds would die.
Tables removed, they locked eyes at close range. As Silva turned to leave, Reynolds swung on him. Silva blocked the blow and went for Collateral Damage. Reynolds fled the ring.
A good segment. It was more underscoring of the story than breaking new ground. The audio let them down. The crowd was too loud in the mix. Back-to-back with Keast's promo wasn't the best spot for it.
(4) Najasism pinned Nick Halen in 11:40 to even up their best of seven series at 2-2. Halen went for the move that won him match three early -- the sharpshooter. Naja swiftly answered with a split legged moonsault for near fall. Halen targeted Naja's back to soften him up for the sharpshooter. Naja was forced to fight up from the bottom leading to an fierce exchange of strikes. Halen superplexed Naja for two and continued to work on his back. But Naja kept Halen at bay with unexpectedly explosive strikes. When Halen hooked the ropes to block Naja's O'Connor roll, Naja nipped up executed a bridging german suplex. Just an awesomely innovative spot. Naja hit a pair of tope suicidas, tossed Halen back inside and followed with a springboard cutter. Halen rolled a shoulder at 2.9. Naja went springboard again. Halen made the catch and powerslammed him for an almost three count. Naja back with two Iron Boots into his TO submission (how he won match one). Halen was able free himself. Naja went up top for a flying reverse DDT for the win.
Naja vs. Halen is match up made in heaven. This was a fantastic match that incorporated prior finishes into the story. The work was innovative, snug and crisp in the execution. I see a lot of indy matches where the holes are in the transitions. Not here. Howell and Keast did a great job on commentary.
(5) ProSouth Champion Tyler Cullprett (with Harley Haven) defeated Dameon Ceretone in a non-title match at 9:26. Ok, so a triple threat title match at Mad City Mayhem - Cullprett vs. Ceretone vs. Ace Haven -- was made at the end of last week's show. Why on earth would this non-title match be happening now? The match itself was fine. Dewberry caught Harley giving the umbrella to Cullprett and ejected her. Ceretone had the crossface locked in when the light went out...
Cut to the video screen for another killer Joe Black promo from a remote location. Black said since beating him, Ceretone had done nothing with the victory except come back to ProSouth claiming loyalty, whereas Towers beat him in the same ring and became a phenomenon. Towers came out of that match with confidence. Within Ceretone, a seed of doubt was planted and tonight watered that seed. (not just a great promo guy, Black is also clairvoyant) Black was giving Ceretone one more match. Black wanted to save face and get his win back. If Ceretone beat him, Black would shake his hand and give him the respect he deserved. But Ceretone better come to kill him or else. Black was giving Ceretone a week to get his affairs in order.
The light went out again...lights on...the mysterious baton man who attacked Ace Haven last week was back again. The masked person cracked Ceretone iu the head with his batons. Ace Haven hit the ring. Ace's enzuigiri stunned the creature but he did not go down. Ace went for the Windwaker. The creature cut Haven off with a baton blast and choked him with his weapons. This weird whatever it is approached Cullprett in an intimidating manner, threatening to strike him with a baton. Harley handed the umbrella to Cullprett. The masked person immediately bowed down before the ProSouth Champion. Cullprett patted the creature on the head as the lights wen out to end the show.
The lack of any rationale for the match.. stopping it cold for a video...the return of the creature from the black lagoon....I think I hated this ending more than last week's. There had better be one hell of a payoff.
